GW36 Review: Salah's Revenge

I've went without Salah all season and have been crowing repeatedly about how little it's affected me. I thought that with everyone wildcarding in GW34 I'd passed the danger zone. However, Salah came back to bite me this week. A 19 point haul - with many people triple captaining him too. On top of this when I wildcarded I chose to go completely Liverpool-less. So I missed out on the big hauls that Robertson and Alexander-Arnold brought home as well. Fortunately I brought Mané in with my free transfer and stuck the armband on him. So that really saved me from the bullet.

Gameweek Points: 62

Gameweek Rank: 3,981,731

Overall Rank: 42,561

(GW36 returns)

The gameweek average was 69, so my rank dropped nearly 20k 😭 I should count my blessings really though as the damage could've been much worse. In hindsight my big mistake was loosing Robertson when I did my wildcard. I think I got a bit carried away wanting players with double gameweeks. I think I also underestimated Liverpool. They really haven't bottled it in any way whatsoever (yet), so I owe them some massive respect. Great title race.

Going forward my options are pretty limited now. For my free transfer I'll be removing Duffy. Probably for Wan-Bissaka. Palace have two decent games. Plus I'm pretty much priced out of the top end players. I'm a little tempted to bring in an Arsenal defender - home to Brighton, then away to Burnley. However, the fact they have Europa League semis to contend with puts me off. It would be fun to bring back Sokratis for a few games though. It was a big mistake bringing him in earlier in the season. Perhaps he could return with a goal and a few clean sheets now to rescue things.

I'll probably go the boring Wan-Bissake route though.

Also I'm planning on captaining Aubameyang. Again, that good game against Brighton. It'll be a gamble, but a nice little differential. A good few days yet before I have to make that decision though.

Overall Points: 2,207

Overall Rank: 42,561

FPL - GW35 Review / GW36 Preview

Thanks to having a fairly solid bench boost I'm now at the highest rank I've been all season. If I finish with this rank I'll be quite pleased and will consider it a very successful season. So I'm hoping to consolidate things in these final few weeks. Saying that however I'm obviously secretly hoping to get even higher. I think I'm probably getting a little greedy now though.

Gameweek Points: 103

Gameweek Rank: 143,112

Overall Rank: 24,447

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Breaking the 100 mark this week was great. It felt like a very solid and stable week. Not especially lucky, not especially unlucky. No massive hauls, no zero point players. In fact, my lowest scoring player was Valery with just the one point. However, given that he missed the first game and didn't start the second that single point felt like a nice little bonus in the end. It would have been nice if Aubameyang hadn't missed the second game, but overall I can't complain. Sané's goal was a huge bonus too really.

GW36

Looking at this week I feel my team is a little bit weak in places - Camarasa and Duffy starting isn't optimal. However, thanks to the bench boost at least I can be fairly certain of having a full eleven if players drop out. The respective games for Camarasa and Duffy are also pretty decent too. So there's reason for hope.

I'm bringing in (and captaining) Mané. Taking out Sané. I'm a little bit disappointed to be taking him out as I think he's looking sharp when he actually plays. He was a very nice differential too. However, the Mané move just makes perfect logic. Home to Huddersfield this week. Pretty much guaranteed to play. So it's an easy move.

Hopefully it'll be another good week :D

(All set for GW36!)

Overall Points: 2,145

Overall Rank: 24,447

GW35 - Bench Boost (!)

All set. Aubameyang in for Deeney. Camarasa stays.

(Bench Boost Activated)

Even though I'm bench boosting I've still symbolically benched all my Brighton players after last week's performance. They simply don't deserve a place in the first eleven. I actually have more faith in Camarasa at this point. Even though he has just the one game against Liverpool.

Joking aside though, I'm actually quite looking forward to this week. I'm not expecting a huge points haul, but it feels like I have quite a diverse line-up with plenty of potential for returns. So it'll be interesting to see how well I do.

With just three weeks left after this one, and likewise just three free transfers, I feel like there's little I can do going forward to change the team now. So I'm just laid back and strapped in for the ride.

I'm going with Sterling for the armband. He seems like the obvious choice looking at the options. I'm a little tempted by Son given that Spurs have so few options - plus he's now suspended for the first Champions League semi final game. So he'll have to get a rest then. Perhaps meaning he'll get a decent number of minutes in the upcoming games. However, Sterling just edges it for me.

I'm now just hoping as many players as possible get both their games.

FPL - GW34 Review

Bit of a disaster with the old captain choice once again. Duffy getting just one point from his two games. Brighton conceded seven goals and scored zero. Meaning my three Brighton players brought in just 6 points over the two games 😢

Gameweek Points: 51

Gameweek Rank: 3,472,229

Overall Rank: 32,520

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All in all it wasn't too bad though. I don't regret the Duffy decision the way I regretted last week's Mané choice. It seemed a decent punt. I only dropped about a thousand places as well, which is pretty good considering I came in three points below the average.

Deeney getting sent off was a bit of a blow. Meaning he'll now probably miss the next three games. However, where there's crisis there's opportunity. So I'm changing my transfer plans to bring in Aubameyang. Might even captain him. It does mean I won't be able to bring in Pogba though.

I'll then have the choice of whether to leave Camarasa in, even though he has just the one game - and a difficult one against Liverpool at that. Or to take a minus 4 to bring in a player with a double. It would have to be a cheaper end player. They would need to get 6 points over the two games to make it viable as well. Assuming Camarasa gets at least two points against Liverpool.

Overall Points: 2,042

Overall Rank: 32,520

Fantasy Premier League: GW34 Preview

Quite boringly my team remains identical to how it was in my last post. This is probably for the best really considering the effect late changes had on my team in the last gameweek :)

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I've got Duffy captain. With two games I just couldn't resist. Assuming he plays both games even a pair of blanks should be 4 points, which is just a point less than a single game-weeker with an assist, so it seems a fairly safe bet.

The main hope now is that all my players come through this week uninjured for the bench boost in GW35. I could really do with having next week's free transfer available to upgrade Camarasa (probably to Pogba). I've currently got 6.2m sat in the bank, so if I do get an injury it'll probably be worth taking a minus 4 to make that move to get maximum value from my squad. Plus the extra game of course (Camarasa not having a double in GW35).

I also like the idea of having cash in the bank to upgrade some of my cheaper options following GW35. Making the Pogba move will leave me with about 2m, which should give me some leeway with my final three transfers of the season.

I'm very happy with my game rank at the moment; 31,375. My highest rank so far this season. So a good week this time out would be excellent.

The World's Hottest Wildcard Team

First up, a quick review of GW33. I made a big boo-boo. About half an hour before the deadline I switched my captain from Hazard to Mané 😭 ..costing me 15 points. Normally I'm never too bothered about making mistakes, but this one niggled me quite a bit. I think it's because I made it in such a spur of the moment way. So it was a little bit of a window into the psychology of playing the game. Plus I think there's also an element that making the change publicly on this blog made it feel more embarrassing than it otherwise would've been. My ego!!!!

I made a few other mistakes this week too. I had Guaita sat on my bench with a huge 10 points. In comparison to Dubravka's measly 2. Likewise I brought in Kolasinac for Anderson, which cost me another point. However, these decisions, as per usual, didn't bother me in the slightest. Guaita versus Dubravka was a 50/50 call and I went with the home side. Kolasinac versus Anderson likewise was a toss up. So I'd probably make the same decisions again if I had the same choices this week.

Even if they were total gambles though, they still wouldn't have annoyed me like the Mané move annoyed me. I think because they were my considered choices. I think the emotional, panicky style of the Mané/Hazard switch was the real, deeper reason for my annoyance. Again, a real insight into the psychology of playing. Making last minute, near deadline decisions, definitely isn't my natural playing style.

However, saying all that, I still actually had a really decent week; 69 points. Very nice.

Gameweek Points: 69

Gameweek Rank: 309,533

Overall Rank: 31,375

GW34 ..WILDCARD

So, onto the wildcard. Three Brighton players, plus Camarasa from Cardiff. Who I plan to transfer out next week for Pogba. Pogba isn't playing great, but Man Utd have a double in GW35, then two superb looking final fixtures in the last few weeks. So I really want someone from Untied, and I still feel Pogba is the best option. Primarily because he seems the most guaranteed of a place.

I've went light up top and heavy in midfield, so in many ways I'm beginning to implement my philosophy for next season. Though I'll be starting next season heavy on defence at first, and only then transferring that into midfield as more information comes to light.

We still have European games this week, so the team below isn't quite set in stone as of yet. I'm pretty well nailed on with the general set up though ...I think. I'll post my final team on Friday.

(My wildcard side as it stands)

Overall Points: 1,991

Overall Rank: 31,375

GW32 Review / GW33 Preview

Not exactly a breathtaking points haul from my double gameweek side. 85 points - 12 above the average, but a rank drop of about 3k.

Gameweek Points: 85

Gameweek Rank: 1,350,786

Overall Rank: 38,798

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I was hoping for a bit more, but can't complain too much. The main disappointment was that Sterling played just one game, so as my captain only got me 6 points :(

A few of my differentials paid off though. Notably Son and Sané, who both got goals.

GW33 - blanks

So, into GW33. Just six games this week due to the blanks. I'm fairly happy with how I'm set up. I'm just currently sat contemplating how to use my free transfer. I'll either be going sensible and bringing in Bournemouth's Fraser, or having a little bit more of a gamble and going for Arsenal's Iwobi (West Ham's Anderson going out).* I quite like the idea of having an Arsenal player this week, mainly due to the fact that they'll be so low owned with Arsenal not having a corresponding fixture in GW31.

For captain I'll be going with Hazard this week. Mané is tempting, but I really fancy Southampton to give Liverpool some problems in that fixture tonight. I'm guessing Salah will be the most highly captained, so that's a minor worry. Hopefully this won't be the week he finally finds his boots.**

*So much for Fraser and Iwobi. Having seen Anderson is now fit I've decided to bring in Kolasinac for Luke Shaw. I'm benching Anderson. So I'll be going into GW33 almost with a full strength squad it seems o_O

**Late change!! - half an hour before deadline - Mané armband. The fear of rotation got me.

(Line-up for GW33)

Overall Points: 1,922

Overall Rank: 38,798